Bi xie lan tian

Allun Lam's The Blacksheep Affair (1998, Hong Kong) is a fast paced action pack set in some fictional East European country Lavernia. Man Cheuk Chiu's character Yim Dong, a policeman, is sent there as a punishment for his disobedience towards his authorities during the film's opening plane hijacking. In Lavernia, there's an evil Japanese Mishima (Hoi Lin) captured and his group has done some very severe damage to the people and he thinks he's on mission from God to "cure the world" by killing and so on. Qi Shu plays Dong's old love Chan Pun who also happens to be in Lavernia. What follows is action and brutality as the evil Japanese kill and kill innocent people and the good Chinese cop must fight them to death.

The film is very annoying in its attitudes towards foreigners, Japanese mostly. They are depicted as evil and rotten killers that cannot be good or change. The screenplay is filled with lines like "those evil Japanese this and that.." and I really can't appreciate a film that has so incorrect attitudes and undertones for no any apparent reason or real importance. And that's not everything that's wrong with this film.

Qi Shu's character, a young and attractive female, is depicted as total moron who can't do anything in a hot situation but scream hysterically and act as if she had no idea what's she screaming for and could she perhaps do something to it. This film suggests that females can't really do much and they are just useless pieces of flesh in a dangerous situation. All that seem to be good and capable for something noteworthy are of course the Chinese men and their police.

The music is very bad in my opinion and even though it tries to make the goings on more dramatic, it fails and sounds almost naive. None of the characters become too interesting or close to the real person so their destinies don't touch and make me feel anything either. There's only one thing this film manages to do somewhat good and that is the action.

The action choreography by the great Ching Siu Tung is not as near as kinetic and inventive as in his masterpieces (Chinese Ghost Story trilogy, various John Woo films plus many others) but his talent make the action scenes easy to watch and thus the whole film much easier to watch. The violence is surprisingly brutal and almost exploitive so there's plenty of evil acts committed by evil, uncharismatic and unreal characters in this film. Not too nice an experience for a lover of ambitious and unique Eastern cinema.

The Blacksheep Affair is very close to the most boring and needless HK category and is worth watching only for the occasional action scenes and some inventive usage of camera. For most of the time, the twisted and moving camera angles and drives don't mean anything special, they're just there to make the film look more "stylish", but at least occasionally they manage to depict something, too. A good example is at least the scene in which Qi Shu's character escapes from the raging masses. Otherwise there's nothing special or memorable in this film, and thus it is among the least convincing pieces of the more recent Hong Kong cinema.

3/10 and barely so.

Ever since SONY/Columbia/Tristar/(Disney)(silent partner) decided to release the Jackie Chan canon, it's become more and more clear that 1) they want a monopoly on redistributing Asian films on secondary markets (e.g. DVD); 2) they have no intention of allowing these films to go before an American audience without alterations; 3) they want to confuse Americans concerning the nature of these films by giving them spurious titles (most obviously "legend of this" or "legend of that" - almost none of these films have the word "legend" in their original titles).

Here's yet another example. This film is not and never claimed to be (in its original title) a sequel to the Jet Li film "Meltdown". Whereas "Meltdown" is really a very dark satire in the draping of an ultra-violent action film, the present film is a dramatic confrontation with a troubling event in Chinese history - the massacre in Tianemen Square; in fact it's the only Chinese film I can think of that explicitly addresses that terrible event; and the fact that the government allowed production of a film that admits the primary responsibility for the massacre was the government's - and that the government was mistaken - indicates that China has come a long way since Tianemen Square. But of course SONY/Columbia/Tristar/(Disney) doesn't think a film of this nature ought to be viewed with any sympathy, so they gave it a title and a promotion package sure to confuse - and disappoint- many American audiences.

On its own merits, the film is really quite good; the dramatic moments are well-handled and neatly performed. The action sequences - choreographed by the great Ching Siu Tung - are fast, high-impact, innovative. And they help move the plot along, they're not just tossed in to make this an action film. The dialog is just so-so, but the actors are determined to raise it above mediocre, and accomplish this in several key moments. The direction is solidly professional and we are left knowing that we have witnessed both a dramatic film AND an action film.

It's not the among China's best, but it is worthwhile entertainment on its own terms.

Hopefully SONY/Columbia/Tristar/(Disney) will one day realize that people who come to a film made in Asia want to see a film made in Asia, and not a re-interpreted "legend". However, there's still the hope for an anti-trust suit to break their bank....

The storyline is basically about an exiled HK cop living in a fictional ex-Soviet country, and sounds like something from a Jackie Chan film. The action comes thick and fast yet theres something missing...

However the swordfight at the end is definitely the best I have ever seen and it is a shame that it's so short as it really shows the talent of Chiu Man Chuk.

The dubbing is absolutely dire, so I would recommending watching the DVD version with subtitles.

These comments are based on watching the film in Cantonese with English subtitles; it was clear from viewing that characters had been given Anglicised names in the subtitles; I'll stick to those names.

This Hong Kong action film is centred on Arthur, a Chinese soldier. After disobeying orders, to stop a plane hijacking, he is posted to the fictional country of Lavernia... apparently an ex-Soviet nation somewhere in Eastern Europe. Almost as soon as he arrives he witnesses a terror attack being committed by Mishima; the leader of a Japanese cult. He manages to catch Mishima but local forces take credit for the arrest. Soon afterwards he bumps into his old flame Tammy, who fled China after the events in Tiananmen Square. Mishima may be in jail but he had previously been working with a traitorous Lavernian minister and he plans to use the Chinese by having them escort him back to Japan, where he is facing terror charges, and then ambush them leaving no witnesses... this leads to a confrontation in the Chinese embassy as Arthur faces Mishima while the Laverian arm shoots at anybody leaving the embassy compound.

If you want plenty of exciting martial arts action then this film delivers; especially during the climatic fight in the embassy. Unfortunately some of the other action isn't so good; when characters are shot with automatic weapons they stand jiggling in an almost comical manner and several explosions look fake. A degree of comedy is added by the fact that none-Chinese characters talk in not so brilliantly dubbed English. The story is decent enough; it provides a good excuse for action although the sub-plot involving his girlfriend is a bit of a distraction. The cast is solid enough most obviously Chiu Man Cheuk as Arthur and Andrew Lin as Mishima. Overall I wouldn't call this a must see but if you like martial arts action it is worth watching.

A little bit like Die Hard/Executive Action, only much better because it's Hong Kong produced. Great fight scenes. Especially in the end, kung fu/sword fight sequence was just unforgettable. A must see for Hong Kong action fans.